The Howard House
Location: Dunn, NC (Historic District)
Capacity: 99 indoors; expanded with porch and tents
Type: Historic Mansion
Website: howard-house.com
In the historic district of Dunn, North Carolina, set on a quarter-block lawn surrounded by mature oaks and an iron fence, stands a colonial revival mansion that has watched over this town for more than a century. The Howard House was built in 1908 and 1909 by Kenneth Lewis Howard, a lumber mill owner who attended the Jamestown Ter-Centennial Exposition in Virginia in 1907, fell in love with the North Carolina house constructed for the fair, a house that had been presided over by Theodore Roosevelt himself, and came home with a free copy of the building plans and the determination to build something permanent. He hand-picked the yellow pine from his own mill and allowed it to cure before construction began, and the grand staircase and wainscoting that resulted were crafted by the Pearsall Furniture Factory, a name that meant something in Dunn in those years when craftsmanship was not a marketing word but a trade practiced by people who expected their work to outlast them.
More than a hundred years later, the house has kept every promise its builder made. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982, maintained by the Woman’s Club of Dunn and the Friends of the Howard House with the kind of devotion that only belongs to people who understand what they hold, the mansion has become one of the most affordable and historically significant wedding venues in the region, a place where couples exchange vows beneath the same wainscoting and beside the same staircase that Kenneth Howard built when the century was still young and the pine was still golden.
The Interior
The first floor of the Howard House unfolds with the gracious proportions of an era when rooms were designed for gathering and doors were wide enough to welcome everyone who walked through them. The large entry foyer greets guests with the architectural detail that defines the entire house: the grand staircase rising to the second floor, the original woodwork warming every wall, the kind of craftsmanship that announces itself quietly and never has to repeat the introduction. Ladies’ and men’s parlors flank the entry, and the dining room and banquet hall provide the space for a seated reception that feels intimate despite its capacity.
The banquet and ballroom serves as the primary reception space, and its character comes from the house itself rather than from anything added to it: the pine walls, the period proportions, the quality of light that passes through windows that have been filtering Carolina sun for over a century. Two handicapped-accessible bathrooms and a kitchen with refrigerators, stove, oven, and microwave occupy the first floor, giving catering teams the infrastructure to serve a formal dinner within the historic setting.
Upstairs, a dedicated bride’s room connects to an adjoining space for bridesmaids, with two additional rooms and one and a half baths providing the privacy and comfort the wedding party needs during the hours before the ceremony. The second floor belongs to the bridal party alone, a quiet retreat above the activity of the arriving guests below.
The Grounds
The outdoor spaces at the Howard House extend the celebration beyond the mansion’s walls with the kind of natural elegance that only mature landscaping and a century of growth can provide. The wraparound porch, a defining feature of the colonial revival style, serves as both ceremony site and cocktail hour space, and when the weather cooperates, the porch becomes the room that guests remember most: open to the air, shaded by the house itself, overlooking the oak-lined lawn with its iron fence marking the boundary between the celebration and the quiet street beyond.
For larger weddings, tents on the lawn expand the capacity well beyond the ninety-nine-person interior limit, and the vacant lot next door provides convenient parking. The property is fully handicapped accessible, with a wheelchair ramp at the rear and side entry ensuring that every guest arrives with dignity and ease. The lawn beneath the oaks offers portrait opportunities that draw from the property’s deep character: the iron fence, the porch columns, the play of light through branches that have been growing since before the house was built.
From a Florist’s Perspective
The Howard House asks the florist to honor a building whose beauty is architectural and whose character was established long before any arrangement was placed on a table. The original pine woodwork, the grand staircase, and the period proportions of the parlors and banquet room reward palettes drawn from the warm end of the spectrum, ivory, blush, champagne, dusty rose, sage, and soft gold echo the honey tones of the cured pine and the warm light that moves through the historic windows. Arrangements should feel graceful and considered rather than overwhelming, the house provides the grandeur, and the flowers need only to complement it.
For porch ceremonies, simple arrangements flanking the entrance or a garland threading through the railing are all the architecture asks for. Centerpieces in the banquet room should respect the scale of the tables and the height of the ceilings without competing with the woodwork that surrounds them. Garden roses, peonies, ranunculus, stock, hydrangeas, and trailing greenery in classic vessels, silver, glass, ceramic, or matte white, suit the mansion’s balance of historic formality and Southern warmth. The Howard House is a venue where the flowers should feel as if they were chosen by someone who understood the building and arranged by someone who loved it.
Practical Details
The Howard House is located in the historic district of Dunn, North Carolina, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The colonial revival mansion, built in 1908-1909, features a grand staircase, original pine wainscoting, entry foyer, ladies’ and men’s parlors, dining room, and banquet/ballroom. Indoor capacity of ninety-nine guests, expandable with wraparound porch and tents. Bride’s room and bridesmaid’s room upstairs with additional rooms and baths. Seventy folding chairs, five round tables, and eight six-foot rectangle tables included. Kitchen with refrigerators, stove, oven, and microwave. Two handicapped-accessible bathrooms. Wheelchair ramp with rear and side entry. Adjacent lot for parking. Less than an hour from Raleigh, Fayetteville, Smithfield, Clinton, and Sanford. Contact the Howard House directly for availability, packages, and pricing.
Hidden Door Floral Studio designs wedding florals for venues across the Triangle. To discuss your wedding at The Howard House, schedule a consultation.